All Rise...

Editor's Note

The Charge

"Come 'ed!"

Opening Statement

There was a time before The Beatles were The Beatles. Before they were
legends. Before they changed the world. There was a time when the hysteria that
surrounded the band was seen as a fad. Two albums and a steady stream of hit
singles had rocketed the foursome to the top of British charts, and their
appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show were about to make them a smash in America,
too. But no one knew how long their success would last. Shortly before the
band's U.S. television debut, United Artists negotiated a deal to make a Beatles
movie as a way to get the rights to a soundtrack album. No one expected much
from the film. It took a savvy producer, an inspired choice of screenwriter and
director, and the multitalented Beatles to turn what could have been another
disposable pop star vehicle into a movie milestone. A Hard Day's Night
hit theaters at the same time The Beatles became The Beatles, and it
ushered in a new era of music and filmmaking.

Facts of the Case

A Hard Day's Night follows John, Paul, George, and Ringo on a typical
day, running from fans and being shuttled from one place to another, all while
preparing for a major TV appearance and babysitting Paul's troublemaker
grandfather (Wilford Brambell).

The Evidence

Would A Hard Day's Night be as revered today if The Beatles had faded
away in the mid-'60s? Or is the band's charismatic and funny performance in the
film proof that the Fab Four had too much talent to be anything but superstars?
It certainly would have been a different movie had it come earlier or later in
their careers. As long as they got a soundtrack, United Artists didn't much care
about the film. They handed control to producer Walter Shenson, a smart guy who
wooed The Beatles and convinced them to work with director Richard
Lester—an American expat who'd made a name for himself working with Peter
Sellers and Spike Milligan on The Goon Show.

Lester's loose style and flair for visual comedy made him the perfect choice
for the irreverent Beatles. TV writer Alun Owen's lyrical use of Liverpool slang
made him the perfect choice to write the screenplay. The film's limited budget
and tight timeline forced Lester to shoot quickly, and in black and white. There
wasn't time to worry the details or add layers of studio sheen. There was barely
time for editor John Jympson and Lester to cut it together. A different
combination of stars and filmmakers might have crumbled under the limitations.
Lester and The Beatles flourished.

A Hard Day's Night is inspired by the Beatles' crazy schedule and
crazier fans. They play exaggerated (and sanitized) versions of themselves. The
film starts with the Beatles running towards the camera, chased by legions of
fans, and doesn't let up until they finish the big concert and hop onto a
helicopter that lifts them up into the heavens. The movie in between doesn't
have a plot so much as a bunch of memorable moments. There are comedy bits with
the foursome, their flustered manager (Norman Rossington), and Brambell's
mischievous "king mixer"—verbal and slapstick gags that
highlight the Beatles' natural comic chops. There are surreal moments, courtesy
of Lester. And there's music. Lots of music. Where early rock 'n' roll movies
were staged like musicals, A Hard Day's Night is more organic. The back
half of the film has the band preparing for, and playing, a big TV
concert—the perfect excuse to pack in songs. Elsewhere, Lester takes
advantage of the film's malleable reality to stage what are essentially music
videos. (MTV later gave the director an honorary award as the "father of
the music video"; he jokingly asked for a blood test.) The musical
centerpiece of the film is "Can't Buy Me Love"—their big single
at the time—a cathartic moment as the Beatles break free from their
handlers and haranguers to cavort in a field.

At a taut 87 minutes, A Hard Day's Night has exactly the right amount
of everything. No joke, scene, or song lasts longer than it should, before
moving on to something else. A lot of that momentum comes from Dick Lester, who
used handheld cameras to create intimacy and immediacy, and from Jympson, who
compliments Lester's direction with edits that sell the jokes and respect the
music. It's hard now to see the film as the revolution it was in 1964. No one
had seen anything like it or The Beatles—and little did they know it was
only the beginning.

Following a long and winding road of home video rights, A Hard Day's
Night returns to Criterion, who put it out a laserdisc in the late '80s, for
this mostly definitive dual format release. Until now, the only Blu-ray option
for the film was a Canadian disc—an upgraded version of Miramax's 2002
"collector's edition" DVD set. Although that Blu-ray brought over that
DVD's copious extras, it also retained the so-so transfer and faked 5.1 audio
(more on that in a minute). For this new Richard Lester-approved transfer,
Criterion scanned the film at 4K and restored it to remove specks and scratches.
The 1.75:1 1080p transfer is a stunner, coaxing nuance and detail out of a
rough-and-ready low budget production. A Hard Day's Night is never going
to look perfectly clean—and it shouldn't—but it's hard to imagine it
looking much better. Previous versions of the film were stuck in muddy middle
tones. This new transfer runs from deep black to bright white, creating greater
clarity in the image in general (and Victor Spinetti's fab mohair sweater in
particular).

A Hard Day's Night looks great, but some might argue the most
important upgrade is to the audio. Miramax tried to create a 5.1 mix out of the
mono soundtrack (the only mix they had the rights to use), and it was a mess.
The fake surround mix added nothing to the film, and the lack of a true mono
option drove purists nuts. This new release features two main audio options in
addition to stereo: a lossless remastered version of the original mono track,
and a new, true 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix produced by Giles Martin at
Apple.

The mono track is every bit as crisp and dynamic as the mono album remasters
that came out in 2009, and should satisfy those who want to watch the film the
same way audiences did in '64 (including the return of details removed in
previous restorations, like the noise of George knocking over his amp during
"If I Fell"). The 5.1 surround mix isn't necessarily better, but it
provides a new way to experience the movie and the music. There's not as much
instrument separation as the surround mixes for the Help! and Yellow Submarine Blu-rays, but
that's fine with me. I prefer this approach. The mix maintains the integrity of
the songs as the Beatles meant for them to be heard, while expanding the
soundscape for greater impact. From the opening chord of the title song, the 5.1
audio hits hard, prioritizing the music while offering subtle separation of
background effects and screaming teens. Dialogue scenes don't have as much going
on, but at least there's no jarring transition into the songs. There's no wrong
choice between the new surround mix and the remastered mono track. They both
sound better than ever.

There seems to be debate on Beatles and A/V forums about the
"correct" picture and audio presentation. A Hard Day's Night
has been shown in a variety of aspect ratios—some of which show more image
than this set's 1.75:1 ratio. Some may prefer the 1.66:1 or 1.37:1 ratios of
previous releases, but I respect Criterion's decision to use what they and
Lester determined to be the original theatrical ratio. Another point of
contention are the songs that play slower in the film than they do on the
album—the result of the TV studio performances being shot at 25 frames per
second to sync up with the flicker of the control room monitors. No attempt has
been made to "fix" the issue by speeding up these scenes. If you want
to watch a tweaked version of the movie, I hear there are several fan edits.
Criterion has done an excellent job delivering the film as it appeared in
theaters 50 years ago. Take it or leave it.

A Hard Day's Night has seen many home video releases with lots of
different extras. The Criterion Blu-ray doesn't include every previous bonus
feature, but what's included is a broad collection of extras new and old that
tell the story of the film, the people who made it, and The Beatles.

• "In Their Own Voices" (18:02)—Archival audio
from 1964 interviews with The Beatles, talking about their experiences making
A Hard Day's Night, with photos, behind the scenes footage, and clips
from the film.

• "Anatomy of a Style" (17:07)—Story
editor/screenwriter Bobbie O'Steen and music editor Suzana Peric walk viewers
through five of the film's big music sequences: the opening titles, "I
Should Have Known Better," "Can't Buy Me Love," "And I Love
Her," and "She Loves You."

• You Can't Do That: The Making of A Hard Day's Night
(62:04)—Hosted by Phil Collins, this 1994 documentary is an entertaining
overview of the production and its legacy. The documentary, produced for the
film's 30th anniversary, features interviews with many key players (sadly none
of them Beatles), with special focus on producer Walter Shenson. It also
includes a performance of "You Can't Do That"—shot during the
concert sequence but deleted from the final cut.

• Things They Said Today (36:17)—This documentary
was produced in 2002 for the Miramax DVD. There's some overlap with the
information in You Can't Do That, but there's just as much new in this
collection of cast and crew interviews—featuring Lester, Junkin, George
Martin, publicist Tony Barrow, and United Artist VP David Picker—including
stories about a crewmember who lost half the first day's negatives when
screaming fans mistook him for one of the Beatles, and a cameraman whose back
teeth were vibrated loose by screaming fans while filming the concert.

• The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film
(11:10)—This 1959 short film—directed by Richard Lester and starring
Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers, and Leo McKern (a.k.a. "Clang" from
Help!)—is a brilliant bit of surreal visual comedy that was
nominated for a "Best Short Film" Academy Award. Its style and humor
prefigures Lester's approach to A Hard Day's Night, and is partly
responsible for The Beatles wanting to work with him.

• "Richard Lester: Picturewise" (27:13)—Narrated
by actor Rita Tushingham, this featurette examines Lester's influences and
career—from live TV and the Goons, to his film work with The Beatles and
beyond.

• "The Beatles: The Road to A Hard Day's Night"
(27:41)—Rounding out The Beatles story is this 2014 interview with music
historian Mark Lewisohn, detailing the band's early years—from Liverpool
to Hamburg to the big screen.

• The 2000 Re-release Trailer (2:00) and 2014 Re-release Trailer
(1:39) are mostly interesting as a way to compare the transfers and marketing
approaches for the Miramax and Criterion re-releases.

• The set also comes with a hefty 80-page booklet packed with
behind-the-scenes photos, folded in with an essay by Howard Hampton and a
lengthy excerpt from a 1970 interview with Lester, conducted by J. Philip
DiFranco for a 1977 book about the film.

• The dual-format set also includes 2 DVDs, containing the
remastered film and all of the extras.

It's an impressive collection of bonus features. The only disappointment is
the missing "deleted scene" mentioned in Criterion's press release.
The You Can't Do That documentary includes the deleted song from the end
concert, but it would have been nice to have it as a standalone extra. (It would
be even nicer to have the deleted scene between Paul and a young actress, shot
but not used in the final film—but that would require a time machine to go
back and stop them from destroying the footage. Not even Criterion is that
good.)

Closing Statement

More than half a century since they launched into superstardom, it's hard to
see The Beatles as anything but rock royalty. In 1964, however, their future
wasn't so certain. According to the template established by earlier pop
musicians, the Fab Four were destined to have a few hit records then fade away.
That didn't happen, of course, but the uncertainty gave them the freedom to make
a daring debut film that captured their exuberance and wry humor. A Hard
Day's Night may have inspired countless imitators, but it remains one of a
kind. No one but Richard Lester could have directed it, no one but The Beatles
could have starred in it, and no one but Criterion could have put together such
a stunning hi-def package. The film looks amazing, sounds even better, and comes
with a carefully curated treasure trove of bonus features that unpack the riches
of this deceptively dense hoot of a film.